Trump described a plan to arm the best, most capable teachers -
which he estimated would be about 20% of teachers - so they could
deter or stop school shootings in progress.

Though Trump has not committed to the idea, he tweeted that it
would "solve the problem instantly." But there's little to no
evidence to back that up.

In 2009, a gunmen attacked Fort Hood, a US military base in
Texas, killing 13. The shooter was undeterred by the presence of
the armed, trained US Army. In 2014, it happened again at the
same military base.

Among the police and US military - groups that are exhaustively
trained in firearms safety - accidental discharges of guns happen
frequently. Among teachers who already have a demanding full time
job, having a gun would add an awesome responsibility to their
already stacked list of tasks.

In an ideal world, arming teachers is still bad

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How would we arm teachers? Pistols? Long guns? Armor?

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AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File

For the idea to demonstrably work, teachers would have to shoot
and stop school shooters in the act. For the idea to fail, a
single errant discharge, theft of a gun, or mistake in the gun's
handling would be too dear a price.

Under the best-case scenario, a school shooter is storming a
school, and a teacher with training and a gun would confront
them. The best-case scenario here is a gunfight between teachers
and armed assailants at a school, where teachers have arsenals
that can match those of potential attackers on standby, and the
teacher wins.

Indoors, pistols may suffice, but should teachers have long guns
to fight off attackers at a distance? Body armor to engage them?
A federal push to arm teachers would have to grapple with that
question.

In the worst-case scenario, careful school shooters will avoid
classes they know to be armed and teachers they know to have
weapons. They still can prey on under-defended schools, and guns
proliferate across classrooms around the US. Guns are misused and
fall into the wrong hands. Those who wish to do violence to
schools may now opt to use bombs or inflict death without
gunplay. The problem of violent deaths in schools may get worse.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of
Teachers, told the Associated Press that
arming teachers is "one of the worst ideas I have heard in a
series of really, really, really bad ideas."

Victims want fewer, not more guns in school

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Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attend a memorial following a school shooting incident in Parkland

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Thomson Reuters

To Trump's credit, he does appear to be looking for a solution
for the epidemic of school shootings that's unique to the US.
Trump has expressed support for other forms of gun regulation and
control that could curb people's access to dangerous weapons.

Across the US, some schools do allow armed school
staff, but they decided on those positions themselves. It's a
losing gambit for Trump to try to assert some federal policy that
could easily lead to an increase in gun deaths at school.

But if Trump really paid attention to the student protests
flaring up in the US, he would have heard that they'd like fewer,
not more guns in schools.